Just one more: "The Disneyland Part"

Here we go... the day the kids (and I) have been waiting for for almost a year. I think that I was equally excited, if not more so, to go to Disneyland. There is something about this place that is just magic. This is probably why Disney can charge crazy prices for everything and people still continue to come back over and over again. The magic doesn't end when you are an adult either. I remember the feelings that I had while at Disneyland when I was little and it is the same now that I am older, although they are influenced by different things. The excitement that I feel is more to see the smiles on my kids faces this time around. I love the awe that I see in their eyes as they try to take everything in. It reminds me of my experiences as a kid and just compounds the excitement and happiness I feel.

I have posted lots of pictures in this post and it is not even close to everything we experienced. We were there for a total of three days. My parents bought us all "Hopper passes" where we could go to both Disneyland and California Adventure for the three days we were there.

As I looked at the pictures later my first thought was "I wish I took more pictures of us doing _____ or standing by ______ or with _______," but then I decided that it was so much better living in the moment than looking at everything through my camera lens. Shad and I laughed when we were in line for the "Indiana Jones" ride and a couple in front of us each had their own cameras taking pictures of every curve and corner in the line. Although I won't remember all of the little details of what the Indiana Jones line was like, I remember that I had a fantastic time with my family. The feelings that I had there with my kids can not really be captured in a picture anyway, although we tried to do that a little bit with the smiles that you see on these kid's faces.

Day One

Today we spent the whole day in Disneyland. It being a Thursday it was supposed to be least crowded this day so we took advantage of that. Honestly it wasn't that crowded the whole time that we were there. The longest we waited was 40 minutes for a ride and that was because the kids absolutely had to go on a ride again, even though the timing wasn't quite right. Most rides were about a 10-15 minute wait. Some we walked right on.

It was a lot of fun seeing Disneyland all decked out for Halloween. The weather was absolutely perfect the whole time we were there. It was only hot for maybe an hour out of the day and then a tiny bit chilly an hour before we left each night. I really liked going this time of year more than any of the times I went before (or that I remember).

Jack's first sight of Disneyland

Standing at the gates of Adventureland to get in.
We started there and we got right on every ride.

The first ride that we went on was the Jungle Cruise. This typically has a long line towards the middle of the day, but we walked right on. My mom was so smart in her planning. We really maximized our time with her research.

Next, we went over to Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. Jack took a little flashlight in with him that we brought and he wasn't scared at all. Gracie didn't make a peep the entire time and sat very still taking it all in. I loved seeing the Haunted Mansion made into "The Nightmare Before Christmas." I guess my kids need to watch that show now so that they know why it was decorated the way that it was.

We spent a bunch of time over in the classic Disney rides in Fantasyland. Haken wasn't as impressed with these as he was the big roller coasters, but Jack really liked them.

Shad and I got to spend a little bit of time alone while the rest of the group went to a show. We went back to the Hotel to grab and few things we forgot that morning. I loved just walking around with my sweetheart probably more than all of the rides I went on.

Love the photo bomb in this picture.

When we got back, we all went to "It's a small world." We waited about 30 minutes for this ride, which Shad says was entirely too long, but the kids loved it. You have to go on this ride once when you are in Disneyland, no matter how much you will despise the song after you get off.

The afternoon was spent in Toontown where Haken saw Mickey at his house and I got to ride a roller coaster with my handsome little guy.

We had tons of good food while we were there. I was really impressed with the quality of the food. Although it pretty much costs your first born to eat there, I would recommend that everyone who goes to Disneyland plans on buying at least one meal a day there. My parents bought us dinner every night (love them!) and I did bring sandwiches one day for lunch, but we never ate them. Eating the food there is part of the experience. Although it is expensive, you did get a lot of food and I was never hungry. While there we had Cajun, Mexican, Chinese, and American. I learned the hard way not to buy kid's meals. After the first day the kids basically ate off of our plates because there was so much food.

Day 2

Today was spent in the California Adventure park. This was a day of divide and conquer. We split up a lot more this day so that everyone would have a chance to do what they wanted to do. It was SO nice having so many adults there so that we could switch off watching the kids. I honestly think that I will never want to go with just our little family while we have babies because then I would never get to ride any of the big rides with my hubby. One of us would always be watching them. That would be lame! Having Grandma and Grandpa there was also tons of fun for the kids.

Shad and I volunteered to get everyone "fast passes" for the "Radiator Springs Racer" ride right as we got into the park while the rest went to ride another ride and then we would switch. We heard they go fast and boy were they right! We were there when the park opened and the fast pass time was all the way until 5:00 pm! (I'll talk a little more about that ride later) Once we got the passes we headed to Bug land. Jack liked the little rides in this area.

We also saw a show in bug land on the third day as a family. It was an 3D interactive show where you actually feel like there are bugs around you. Kind of creepy. This is the only time that I can remember hanging out with just our little family. We maybe should have done that more, but I enjoyed the company of my siblings as well.

In the bug cave waiting for the show to start.
We had 3D bug glasses on.

We didn't get a lot of signatures because that really wasn't what the kids wanted to do (thank heavens!) but we did get a few that were easy to catch. When Jack met Minnie he was excited at first, but then had second thoughts when we got close. It was all we could do to get him to at least hold her hand for the picture (at the top of this post).

We saw the Pixar parade down the streets of California adventure this night. We weren't really planning on it, but everyone started lining the streets, so I found a place and marked our territory while I waited for the kids to get off of a ride. I think they really enjoyed the parade so I'm glad that we made time for it.

Radiator Springs was probably my favorite part of California Adventure. It was SO well done. It looked exactly like the movie. It was like we were walking right into Radiator Springs. I was especially impressed with the mountain scenery they had created for the background. It looked completely real and huge.

The Radiator Springs Racers ride put a bit of a wrench in our evening. We went back for our fast pass time (which was a genius idea, because the wait time was 90 minutes) only to find that the ride was having issues. They told us to come back later and they would honor our fast passes. Once they got the ride working we hopped into the line and everything looked great, until we were almost on. It looked like it was going to be a revisit to our experience last night with the Matterhorn (which I never got to ride) where it broke down just a few people in front of us. Radiator Springs had issues off and on for the next 45 minutes but we finally got on. I'm glad we weren't the ones in the line with the two hour wait behind us. It was worth the 45 minute wait for sure. It really is an awesome ride! They take you all through the movie and then there is a surprise at the end. I wish we could have gone on it again, but there just wasn't time.

This is the only picture that I got of my parents. I know it is kind of lame, but we saw them sitting there. alone. eating dinner. I just thought that it was so cute that they were having a little date there on their own. They were hardly ever together on this trip. My dad was usually the one who volunteered to sit with the babies while the rest of the adults went on every ride. He really gave up a lot of riding to see everyone happy.

That night a few of us stayed and watched the "World of Color" show. Shad took the babies back to the hotel and Haken stayed with me. I enjoyed being with my little guy and not have other kids to worry about. He really got a lot of moments of one-on-one attention that the other kids didn't get and I think he really like it. He was willing to go on EVERY SINGLE ride, even the one that he was 1/2" too short for. Shad LOVED having such a brave little kid to hang out with.

On the tower of terror.

Day 3

The last day we spent in both parks going on what we missed. We had one day of early entry into Disneyland that came with our pass. I was exhausted after two days of nonstop going. Disneyland is fun with kids, but also so much more exhausting than I thought it would be. Sometimes I wished I could sit in their stroller and have someone push me around the park!

Which totally didn't happen by the way....

So, I stayed and took my time getting ready with the baby while Shad took the boys. Or actually, I should say, while Shad took Haken, and Auntie Meggie and Uncle B took Jack. I was going to keep him with me, but Megan said that she would love to take him.

She told me later that that morning of her alone with Jack was one of the highlights of her trip. They rode the Buzz lightyear ride over and over and shot all of the "bad guys." Also a big shout out to uncle B who made his shoulders numb so that Haken could see the "World of Color" show. That kid is not light. I am so glad that my kids have such great aunts and uncles.

Pretty much my favorite picture from the trip

Shad and Haken got a lot of riding in going early that morning. They hopped right on every ride, including the Matterhorn, which was broken when we tried to go on it earlier.

Haken said he was really going to try hard
to smile in this picture

I met up with them later and rode on Splash Mountain with them. It was their third time in a row. They were pretty wet, but Haken loved it. The Grizzly run water ride in California adventure was also one of his favorites. The last night he convinced the adults that stayed late to ride that one twice in a row, even though it was cold and dark.

Listening to the BYU game on the go.

My princess

This picture is one of my favorites. It perfectly describes Jack for the last day. He was obsessed with the Disneyland map. He folded it up and put it in his little zipper pouch around his neck. When we would stop he would pull it out and let us know where we should be going.

And last of all is the Carousel. I don't even know how many times we rode that carousel, but definitely more than any other ride in either of the parks. Looks like we didn't need to even go all the way to California to find happiness. We had to pry her little fingers off the handlebars every. single. time. the ride stopped. She would cry as we carried her away and walked right back into the line and then the process would start all over again. I think I went on it at least 6 times in a row just for her.